Red Shirt protestors clash with Thai government forces in mid-May, in the Silom commercial district of Bangkok. Violence escalated after Khattiya Sawasdipol (better known as Seh Daeng, a prominent renegade general) was shot in the head while being interviewed by a foreign journalist. He died in a coma on 17 May. Thailand had been gripped by political unrest since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in September 2006. Elections in 2008 had placed Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democratic Party leader, in power. The Red Shirts, however, coming largely from among the rural poor who had benefited from Thaksin’s policies, demanded Abhisit’s resignation, saying his government had come to power illegitimately and that he was a puppet of the military. Protestors hurled rocks and fireworks at government forces and set fire to tires in the street. Troops and the police countered with rubber bullets, tear gas, and live ammunition. On 19 May, after troops in armored cars had stormed barricades around the demonstrators’ encampment, Red Shirt leaders surrendered, telling their supporters to end the protest. Even after the call to surrender, some demonstrators said they would fight on. By the time unrest finally died down at the end of May, over 80 people had been killed and some 2,000 injured.

Corentin Fohlen was born in 1981 in France. After studying illustration and comics in Belgium, he discovered photography. Two years later, he began to work for the agency Wostok Press, covering the political and social news in Paris. After working with the agencies Gamma and Abaca Press, he began as a freelancer for Fedephoto, which gave him the freedom to cover both his own interests and major international events. Fohlen has worked with Stern, The New York Times, Le Monde, Paris Match, Le Figaro, France Soir, Libération, l'Express, Marianne and La Vie, among many others.